Last week, I served as a chaperone for our Jr. High's RYM trip.
We spent the week in Hawkins, Texas at a place called Allaso Ranch and it was so. much. fun.
Allaso Ranch is beautiful and they have so many activities for the kids (and chaperones) to do during their free time. This was my first time to chaperone our church's Jr. High trip and I absolutely loved it--I am so thankful for the experience--not to mention, the wonderful teaching that was given all week. It was a refreshing week and I am so happy it served as my first trip of the summer.
I took so many notes from our large group sessions and our elective classes so among the pictures, I am going to share with you some of my favorite lessons (let's be real, I'm going to share them all because they were all that good). The theme for the week was "Peace with God".
Our first evening there, John Trapp, the main speaker, gave a large group lesson and he is one of the best preachers I've ever heard. He was wonderful all week and taught such meaningful lessons. He did a great job talking at a level that was appropriate for jr. high kiddos and from the questions they asked and the little "nuggets" they shared, they understood and took away a lot from his sermons.
Large Group Session #1:
Looking at Philippians 3:4-9
"There is not a lot of peace to be had in this world right now. In the face of injustice and wrong doing, God sees everything, all the wrong that's happening in the world is not unseen and in time, He will do something about it. But, even deeper so, if He sees all that's wrong with the world, then He also sees all that's wrong with me because I do not have peace on my own.
1. Our longing for Peace
We can't have peace with God without righteousness
We all deeply want to be "in", we want to be enough and most of the time, we will do whatever it takes to be accepted, to be righteous.
An NYU professor stated: "The natural human condition is obsession with righteousness"
Messages are all around us that tell us how to be and how to act--to be "socially righteous"
Consider what makes you feel righteous--what will you do or what do you do to feel righteous/accepted?--What is driving that longing in your life? We can't have peace without righteousness BUT, consider your motivation and your goal.
Consider this question, "How do you think God feels about you?" and then follow up by asking "Why?"
The world teaches us that we are righteous because of what we do (our works) BUT, what we do is not (and will never be) enough.
Paul in this passage (Philippians 3:4-9) is telling us that he was doing (and has been doing) everything "right" and at the end, even he says it's all rubbish--all of his works were rubbish--they were not and would not make him righteous.
We start to compare to others to feel more righteous and to feel better ("well, at least I'm not doing what she's doing) but, then, as in this passage, Paul sees God and he falls apart and realizes that he didn't have it as all together as he thought.
The best thing about me is still unclean.
When we encounter Jesus, it undoes us.
Before Paul meets Jesus, he was Saul and Saul was EVIL. He persecuted Christians and much more. But then, he encountered Jesus--Acts 9:1-2--Jesus shows up and Saul realizes what is true--that God sees everything and that was true for Saul and it's just as true for me--Romans 3:10
In my natural state, I am God's enemy and if He were to give us what I deserve, it would be wrath, judgement, and hell.
Yet, what does God do with Saul? and me?
He shows him grace and sends him to Ananias--Romans 5:8--while we were still sinners--before we were acting right--He died for me.
He makes peace with His enemies and makes them His children.
Here, he told this story about Lionel, a super fan of the Phillies and when they were in the World Series 5 (I found the story online here) and it served as an illustration of how Lionel got the celebration of a lifetime for doing absolutely nothing to earn it...
How do we get this peace?
Because we have been JUSTIFIED (made right) BY FAITH--only BY GRACE through FAITH.
When we have faith, we have the righteousness of Christ. We don't have to sneak in, we just get it. We get the credit for all that Jesus has done and we get the peace that accompanies that."
Looking at John 19:1-3, 14-30
"Are you sure/confident that when you die, you'll be in heaven? Are you sure/confident that you have peace with God?
Tonight we are going to talk about two things:
1. "Crucify Him" and 2. "It is finished"
When the wrong doer isn't punished, what does that say to the one that was wronged?
Our God would not be loving if He didn't address and punish those wrong doings happening in the world--so, He sends Jesus.
The truth is, a lot of us are bored with the cross--we are so used to it that it doesn't still move us--we forget the magnitude of what it is and what it means for us.
We need to see how committed God is to make peace with us.
There is no other god who suffers within religion--just our God--and He did it, for us.
John shared a poem by a Edward Shillito, who was a Free Church minister in England during World War I. He didn't share the whole poem but, I found it online and will put emphasis on the line he shared with us:
"If we have never sought, we seek Thee now; Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars; We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow, We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars. The heavens frighten us; they are too calm; In all the universe we have no place. Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm? Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars, we claim Thy grace. If, when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near, Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine; We know to-day what wounds are, have no fear, Show us Thy Scars, we know the countersign. The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak; They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne; But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak, And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone."
Jesus took on the identify of His enemies to bring us true, full, peace.
That's how committed He is to make peace with us and for us.
In God's grace, when I did not deserve it, He died for me (Romans 5:8) because He is fully committed.
tetelestai--greek for "it is finished"
it has been paid in full
it is done.
God/Jesus has done it and 3 days later, when He rose from the dead, we received a "receipt".
Romans 6:3-5 shows us what happens to us when we start to believe in Jesus
Everything you have done and everything you will do is done. It's been taken care of through Jesus's death and resurrection and we can have confidence in that--we find our peace through that.
If you get down on yourself and feel like you need to beat yourself up over it, Jesus has been beaten up enough.
If become self-righteous--then ask yourself, "does anything need to be added to what Jesus has done for me?" do I feel as if what He did was not enough? There's nothing I can add to what Jesus has done.
Is my confidence in Jesus alone? or do I trust myself and my own righteousness and works?"
Looking at John 21:1-9
"Jesus moves towards outsiders and makes peace with them.
Mark 8-one example of how the disciples were knuckleheads and even so, Jesus is so patient with them
Even when we make ourselves outsiders with God-He makes peace with us.
To get this, imagine the place in your life where you would be the most ashamed for Jesus to be there--because that's what's happening to Peter in this passage--this was after Peter denied Jesus before He was crucified (Mark 14).
Mark 14:31-all of His disciples said they would not deny Him and just 19 verses later, they all left Him and fled-Mark 14:50 and even still, HE went to the cross for them.
The angel tells the ladies that first saw that Jesus had risen to make sure to tell Peter (specifically)-to make sure that Peter knows he is still invited (Mark 16:7).
There are two places in the Bible where charcoal fire is used--John 19 and John 21--when Peter denied Jesus and when Peter saw Jesus again. He met Peter at the place of his shame and had breakfast with him and He does the same for me and He does the same for you.
Jesus will meet you in the place of your shame
This story of Peter is in the Bible so that we can know Jesus will do the same for us and He will begin redeeming you and restoring you of that. He moves towards failures and He moves towards outsiders.
One of the ways we move towards restoration is to tell others who know the grace of Jesus about it.
Jesus's response to Peter (vs. 15-19) where He is showing Peter that loving Jesus also means loving others when He's asking him three times--He is restoring Peter.
God doesn't just cover our sins and then constantly remind us of it--He takes our sin and removes it as far as the east is from the west.
He is leading Peter through repentance.
Repentance is turning from disobedience to The Lord--it's not turning from disobedience to obedience--it's turning to The Lord and then through His grace and His commitment to us, we are able to become more obedient and begin to love the things of The Lord.
He not only forgives, He restores.
Acts 22-24--Peter and his boldness after his restoration and redemption.
We know who the true enemy is--death--and we also know the true enemy has been defeated and we do not have to be afraid. Peter's repentance and restoration brought on his boldness.
Jesus greets outsiders and brings them peace.
What if Jesus treated us the way we treat outsiders? When I was an outsider, He moved towards me and made peace with me and now, I need to love outsiders like that, too.
The Peace of Home
God is offering us a home unlike what we've ever experienced when He brings us peace.
Revelation 21:1-8, 22-26 and 22:3-5
These words are given to us because He loves us and because they are true.
Our Longing for a Home
Henry Morrison was a missionary for 40 years in Africa. When he and his wife returned home, there were tons of people there welcoming them home, cheering, and celebrating...come to find out, Teddy Roosevelt was right behind them and the welcome was intended for him.
Henry became bitter and a bit depressed because he felt as if no one noticed or commended the work he and his wife had been doing in Africa. One night, he told his wife "no one cared that we came home" and his wife simply replied to him "who ever said this was our home?"
We long for home.
We think we can make a home here but, we can't.
We are in the wealthiest times yet, we are also the most depressed and addicted that we've ever been.
When we know that we are in the wrong place, our hearts sing because we've come to the realization this home doesn't satisfy us and it never will. We long for our true home.
In vs. 1-eternity happens here on earth-it comes from heaven down to earth.
In vs. 3-the dwelling place of God is with man--He made our home and He comes to live with us
1 Corinthians 15:20-23
We will have new bodies and a new physical place
He doesn't say, "I am making all new things" he says "I am making all things new"
God made this world and He's not giving up on it--He is going to restore it and make it new.
All the things in your life, your world, He thought of it all.
All of the things we enjoy now are just a tiny taste of what's to come--everything exists to make God known to man.
Eternity will feel more like home than anything you've ever experienced--a true home.
What Won't be in The Home
There's no sea--there will be no place to allow monsters into our final home
No sickness, no pain, no mourning, no death--death will die.
21:8-How do the cowardly and faithless get in? Not because of what we've done but, because of the finished work of King Jesus.
What Will be in The Home
The glory of the nations
Every tribe and every tongue
The face of God--Revelation 22--we were born looking for a face that's looking for us.
When we have the surely and love and approval of our Father, we thrive, we succeed, we feel our best.
We want to know the smiling face of our Father--by faith alone, we can have peace with Him and this promised, eternal home.
He is waiting--He brings peace--He brings completion--He brings home.
Throughout the week, each student chooses two elective classes to attend as well.
As chaperones, we go to the classes as well. I went to "Story Shaped Life" by Joe Deegan and "Stressed Out!" by John Perritt so the following notes are from those two elective classes and they were both phenomenal!
First up, Joe Deegan's "Story Shaped Life"
Story Shaped Life Session #1:
Stories shape us and our lives.
In order to shape the life of children, we must tell them stories.
Stories shape and teach children--they teach them lessons rather than just giving them lists of rules
We are shaped by stories--God uses stories to shape and form us into who we are.
Understanding My Heart and how God Made Me:
Genesis 1:26-27
We are made in God's image--a part of Him has been shared with us.
Our image has been tainted by sin--every now and then we see glimpses of who we were meant to be--through stories.
Stories usually do not stand alone, they have multiple chapters, multiple parts, etc.
There are 3 ways that stories shape our lives.
1. My Life is a Story
All stories need:
construction--a beginning, middle, and end
characters
conflict--the best stories redeem this conflict
and our lives have these three characteristics and we need to know that our conflict and our suffering has a purpose.
2. My Story is not an Accident
There's a fourth thing that every story has--they all have a creator (an author)
Psalm 139:14-16 tells me that before I was even born, my creator made me and my story and knew how it was going to come to completion.
Every character serves a purpose in our stories. Not one is wasted space. We do not sit here without a purpose and it's important to know that life is about more than how we feel at times.
3. My Story Needs to be Shared with Others
James 5:13-15--we need to share out stories. We need people in out lives. We need community and communication. We need people to know our stories.
We were not meant to live our stories alone.
God put other "characters" into our lives.
4. My Story Should be Shaped by God's Story
The way we listen to God is to read His word--that's how God speaks to us.
Listen to God = Read my Bible
The most important element is that it's a story from beginning to end.
We begin to know people better when we hear their stories.
When we read the Bible, we begin to know God better.
The goal of reading the Bible is intimacy over instruction--both are of great importance but, the end goal is knowing God and the depths of who He is.
Story Shaped Life Session #2:
There is another story teller--the one who told Eve she could eat from the tree in the Garden of Eden.
1 Peter 5:8-11--we have an enemy who is telling us stories that are full of lies.
We buy stories--we listen to testimonials and we are wired to listen and gravitate towards stories throughout out lives--even when they aren't true.
These are 5 False Narratives (or stories) that the world tells us:
1. "Listen to Your Heart"
The world wants you to believe that the little voice inside of you is who you are and that's simply not true. Our hearts lead us astray.
Jeremiah 17:9-The heart is deceitful-above all things, we cannot understand it"
2. "You are Your Own Hero"
The world wants us to believe that we don't need anyone to save us--this is a false story that Satan want us to believe and it's so untrue and it sets us up for failure.
We cannot save ourselves.
We need a Savior--someone outside of ourselves and most of the time, at great cost to themselves.
It is good to rely on others and it's good and necessary to rely on The One, True Savior
3. "Outward Appearance is Everything"
We can get so caught up on outward appearance that we miss the truth that's found on the inside.
1 Samuel 16:7
We are an image obsessed culture and it presents such false expectations and it's breaking us
4. "Life is all about Experiences"
Culture wants us to believe that we must have all the coolest things and best experiences when really, it's about responsibilities and faithfully living and loving The Lord and other people.
It's about serving, gaining responsibility and loving the people around you. It's those things that bring about the meaningful, life changing experiences we long for.
5. "The Bible is Untrustworthy"
There will be times that people try to sway you and tell you The Bible is not true.
Here are reasons why you CAN trust The Bible:
1. Manuscripts--to authenticate old text, they would see how many manuscripts existed. The more manuscripts, the more reliable it was considered to be. The New Testament has 18,130 manuscripts and the Old Testament has over 42,000
2. Eye Witness Accounts--18 sources actually say that Jesus was a real person, 12 of them were not Christians. When He rose from the dead, the women saw Him 1st and back them, women's comments didn't hold much weight so if it wasn't true, why would they have included women's accounts that were usually "brushed under the rug".
Also, the enemies accounts. Why would Jesus's enemies lie and say He existed if He didn't?
The number of eye witnesses--He appeared before 500 people after He rose from the dead--it's true.
Jesus was a real person.
Jesus believed the scriptures.
Jesus is who He says He is.
This all means we can trust The Bible.
Stressed Out! Session #1:
What is worry / stress / anxiety?
A desire to control things that are out of our control
A subconscious desire to be God--because He's the only one that can control all things
Being "overly concerned or overly obsessed with anything other than The Kingdom of God"--Timothy Lane
Because I am a sinner, I contradict my belief in God each day of my life--rather consciously or subconsciously.
The word anxiety means--in the Old English--to strangle
Matthew 6:25-34
Worry refers to the future which we are cause ourselves to suffer before we even need to
Worry can also refer to our past.
Jesus commands us, "Do not worry"--but, He doesn't downplay the reality of worrying. He KNOWS that there is plenty to worry about.
Concern is not worry-there is a difference.
When did worry begin?
Genesis 1:1, 2:7-9
In the garden, besides Adam + Eve, what was present there?
There was complete and total peace.
Sin effected and ruined everything--vegetation, animals, Adam + Eve, everything.
This is when stress / worry / anxiety entered the world.
Genesis 3:8-13
When we get to Genesis 3, we see God go somewhere in the passages--where did He go when Satan appeared?
There are two true things about EVERY human that this passage shows us:
1. We're all Afraid
vs. 10--Adam says, "I was afraid"
Sin has poisoned our fear and we are afraid of things we weren't originally intended to fear and anxiety / worry / stress fall under the umbrella of fear
2. We're all Hiding
vs. 8 + 10
Sin causes us to hide--most of the time internally--we hide behavior personas and things
There are many different types of hiding places.
There are valid reasons to be afraid and valid reasons to hide.
But, there's only ONE place TO hide--one appropriate, helpful, safe place to hide and when we try to hide anywhere else, it creates more fear / worry / anxiety and stress
God in His grace, CAN give us relief--through shows, books, the places we hide--it's when we turn those things into ultimate things that we aren't using them correctly.
So, where was God in the beginning of Genesis 3--when He came back looking for Adam + Eve?
God's goodness, righteousness, and purity cannot be in the presence of sin--sin cannot be in His complete presence or it would diminish to nothing.
He moved away from Adam + Eve to protect them because now that sin had entered the world, He would have destroyed them had He been with them.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Why not Worry?
A theology of pain and suffering
Matthew 6:25-34
How do we deal with hard situations and circumstances? How do we bring this theology into real life and application?
There's a spectrum of pain and suffering (awkwardness up to severe events)
Your conscious is a gift from God and if you are indulging in a sin behind closed doors, you are GOING to have anxiety because deep down, you know it's wrong and that causes you to feel anxiety.
Friendships can cause worry, body image, guilt / shame, doubt, all of these and much more can cause stress / worry / and anxiety
Worry and anxiety are forms of pain--we need a theology of pain--a deeper explanation of pain--we need to look at what The Bible says about pain and suffering
When pain and suffering enter our lives, we are practicing the theology we believe.
We all have a soul that will never die--it knows there's a heaven coming and it makes us realize, when pain enters out lives that we want it to end. We know it's not natural.
Sin has poisoned the way we think about pain and suffering.
We all deal with it in various ways and most of the ways we choose to handle it do not work because we are sinful and they way we work is tainted when we are left to our own ideas and tactics.
So why not worry?
Because Jesus tells us not to.
It doesn't work--it accomplishes nothing.
Because what we endure is for God's glory.
Because Jesus loves you and worry can physically affect us. He cares for us and He will protect us.
Philippians 4: 4-7
How should we deal with our worry?
1. You will have to deal with worry
There will be times when everything is not fine.
We live in a broken, horrible world that has been poisoned with sin and we will have to deal with hard things and those things will tempt us to be anxious.
We really just want it all to be taken away--that's part of what we long for.
The hard things we endure / encounter could be the one thing that's keeping us clinging to God.
Some of our worries and anxieties keep us clinging.
2. You should worry
Matthew 10:28
He tells us to fear--there's an appropriate fear to have
Can you hide from God? Yes. You can hide from God, in God when you are In Christ, you are hiding from God and His ultimate righteousness.
There is a healthy fear we should have when it comes to hell and how serious sin and separation from God is
3. You must have a theology of pain
We need to be prepared to suffer
We need to have this theology of pain to use as encouragement in the times of pain and suffering that are going to come
When we have this, we see and know that God has a purpose and a plan for our suffering (think about surgeries as an analogy--there is pain to bring you healing through surgeries)
You may not know why but, you know who God is and you can rest in the assurance that He loves and cares for you and your well being
One of the reasons is to draw you to Him through searching His word and through prayer.
4. The Bible & Prayer
We try to escape our pain through TV, novels, social media, etc. but, God's purpose for pain is to bring us to Him
Psalm 119:71
The Bible wouldn't make sense without pain
If you are never in The Word, don't be surprised if you are anxious.
The more afflictions you deal with, the more you will appreciate His word.
5. Grow your knowledge of God
To know yourself, you must know God and to know God, you must know yourself
"Do not fear" can be hard when you are faced with the things the affect our lives.
Maybe the command "do not fear" doesn't affect you because you do not know God and who He is and the depths of what He has done for you.
We can believe Him when He says do not fear.
6. Look to the future
Not the tomorrow future but, our eternal future--the life to come--our secure eternity
Revelation 21: 3-4
There is a day where all of the pain, suffering, stress, anxiety, and fear will be no more and Jesus secured that for me and for you.
Appropriately fearful, not sinfully anxious
We can long for that--the theology of pain helps us to let go of this world and our pain and suffering
7. You need help
WE need not act like we are not afraid / stressed / worried
You need to open up--you do not need to carry that weight on your own
You need the church--you need the people that will point you to the security that is found in Jesus.
Satan wants you to keep your anxiety to yourself but, when we bring it to the light and people move towards you, healing and protection can begin.
Like is said earlier, it was a renewing week and I am thankful.
There will actually be recordings of all the lessons from the week available on RYM's website here.
